Village signs 3-year police and AFSCME union contracts

The Village of Lake Orion has come to a resolution on the POAM (Police Officers Association of Michigan) and the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) union contracts with the village employees.

The contracts are effective July 1, 2017 and are effective for three years.

Michigan’s Public Act 312 that became effective in 2011 exempts AFSCME workers’ contracts from being retroactive. The village will be passing out bonuses in lieu of wage increases for the time period of July 1 through the end of the year.

The POAM workers are exempt from Act 312, resulting in their wages being retroactive.

The village council also resolved the village 2017-18 salary ranges, salaries and bonuses for the administrative officers and non-union positions (at-will employees), effective Dec. 25, 2017. These positions are reviewed annually.

The current administrative officers of the village are the village manger, clerk, finance director/treasurer, deputy finance director/treasurer, police chief, police lieutenant and the public works director.

The total financial impact of the wage resolution for the administrative officers is expected to be $11,027, which includes the annual increase with roll up (FICA, pension, workers comp.).

Village Manager Joe Young said, “We reclassified several classifications to recognize skill levels.”

The POAM contract calls for a new classification of a police sergeant, which will be a current full-time village patrol officer.

The village employs 15 police officers — two full-time, 10 part-time and three part-time code officers — all covered under the union contract.

Removed from the contract was the dispatcher position. Dispatching for the village is processed through the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

The 2017 POAM contract expenses were $384,057, with annual increases expected over the next three years, with the total expenses increasing to $392,141 (a 2.1 percent increase) in 2018, $396,871 (0.8 percent) in 2019 and $409,214 (2.0 percent) in 2020.

The AFSCME contract amended several items, including a reclassification of DPW employees.

The new contract changed the 2.5 percent wage increase that was in force on the prevous contract to 2.0 percent for each of the next three years.

The 2017 contract employee expenses were $382,114 with annual increases expected over the next three years, resulting in total costs of $395,366 (2.9 percent), $401,538 (1.2 percent) and $407,226 (1.2 percent).